For Tech Professionals
The Dice Tech Salary Report
2023 EDITION
Executive Summary
Welcome to the 18th edition of the Dice Tech Salary Report, your source for data on average technology professional salaries across the U.S. We hope this data proves useful as you plot out your career journey and navigate ways to boost your compensation. As with prior reports, you’ll be able to analyze tech professional salaries across a broad range of indicators, including by location, occupation and skill — and dig into other benefits that matter to your peers today.
On the surface, 2022 might have seemed like a scary year for tech professionals. Many tech giants and startups cut back on staff, and a steady flood of headlines promised a recession in the near future. By mid-December, tech industry layoffs totaled more than 140,000. Paired with the strong possibility of a recession in 2023, the environment would not seem conducive to technology professionals looking for work.
Yet across the broader economy, employer demand for all kinds of technology skills remains strong. After increasing only slightly, the tech unemployment rate dipped back down to 1.5% in January. From finance and banking to healthcare and defense, a range of industries continued to post tens of thousands of open tech jobs throughout the year. While the tech industry wrestled with strategy readjustments (much of it related to the need to slice budgets after exuberant spending during the pandemic), tech professionals with the right mix of skills and experience could find bountiful opportunities in numerous other sectors.
That demand, meanwhile, has kept average tech salaries buoyed in the six-figure range. Salaries grew in specific regions and for a wide range of tech-focused roles and skills. If you’re a tech professional with an in-demand specialty such as data analytics or machine learning, chances are very good that you’ll continue to command above-average compensation no matter where you land next. With the nonstop acceleration of digital transformation in virtually every aspect of modern life, companies everywhere simply need technology professionals for everything from website design to building A.I. models to securing their tech stacks against internal and external threats.
But tech professionals aren’t just concerned about money. As you’ll see in the report, they’re also putting high priority on work-life balance and benefits such as vacation days. Even if they can’t land the salary they want at a particular company, tech professionals can use their skills to leverage perks and benefits from their employer that will boost their quality of life. The tech industry (and the world at large) may seem chaotic at moments, but make no mistake about it: no matter where you work or what you do, you are more valuable than ever.
Get the Key Takeaways from this year's Tech Salary Report here.
Methodology
Collection of Data
The 2022 Dice Salary Survey was administered online by Dice.com among its registered Dice job seekers and site visitors between August 16, 2022 and October 17, 2022. Respondents were invited to participate in the survey in two ways: 1) via an email invitation to Dice’s registered (searchable) database members and 2) through a notification via website banner on Dice.com user profile page. A total of 7,098 completed surveys are represented in this report (this number excludes unemployed respondents, students, incomplete responses and those who work outside of the U.S.).
Analysis
Based on our organizational focus of delivering information specific to technology professionals, we narrowed our analysis this year to only report on core technical job functions based on self-reported data. This same adjustment was made to the 2021 dataset.
We believe the change in analysis allows for additional clarity in salary and compensation trends for technology professionals, and will help ensure that the Tech Salary Report can be a valuable resource for your tech career each year.
Data Weighting
In each year of the survey, the data are reviewed to assess the need for data weighting to ensure that the overall data properly reflect the universe of Dice.com job seekers. Examination of the data from 2022 showed a weighted data adjustment was needed for two variables — gender and age. The impact on the mean salary results from the weighting for the 2022 data increased the average salary by +$3,494.
Job Posting Data
Job posting data was gathered by Dice’s partner, Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass), which has a database of more than 1 billion current and historical job postings worldwide. Data was used from Lightcast to complete city, occupation and skill callouts.
Key Takeaways
The average tech salary continues upward trend.
Following a year of strong growth, the average tech salary increased 2.3% in 2022 to $111,348. This reflects continued strong demand for tech talent despite economic uncertainty and budget pressures on many organizations. Technology professionals and the skill sets they offer have become indispensable to organizations' core business needs, from running company operations to securing data to continuing digital transformation efforts.
Tech professionals are more dissatisfied with their salaries year-over-year.
Respondents indicated greater dissatisfaction with their salary compared to 2021, with nearly half (49%) believing they are underpaid. Inflation is likely making many tech professionals nervous about the size of their paychecks and raises, impacting their relations with management.
Tech professionals are seeking better work-life balance through benefits.
We know work-life balance has become more of a priority to most since the pandemic, and this year’s survey data is further proof. Forty-five percent of tech professionals said they planned on using all of their vacation days in 2022, up from 39% in 2021. And in addition to ranking remote work and flexible work schedule options as critically important non-traditional benefits, there was a significant increase in how respondents ranked the importance of wellness programs as a benefit: 49% in 2021 to 58% in 2022.
Data-related tech skills demand higher pay with growing salaries.
Earning some of the highest tech salaries this year were data-related tech skills such as Elasticsearch ($143,619), Apache Kafka ($142,764), Teradata ($141,515) and Redis ($140,290). For tech professionals everywhere, learning specialized, data-related skills can offer more opportunities to negotiate for raises, equity and other benefits.
The average tech salary continues upward trend.
Following a year of strong growth, the average tech salary increased 2.3% in 2022 to $111,348. This reflects continued strong demand for tech talent despite economic uncertainty and budget pressures on many organizations. Technology professionals and the skill sets they offer have become indispensable to organizations' core business needs, from running company operations to securing data to continuing digital transformation efforts.
Tech professionals are more dissatisfied with their salaries year-over-year.
Respondents indicated greater dissatisfaction with their salary compared to 2021, with nearly half (49%) believing they are underpaid. Inflation is likely making many tech professionals nervous about the size of their paychecks and raises, impacting their relations with management.
Tech professionals are seeking better work-life balance through benefits.
We know work-life balance has become more of a priority to most since the pandemic, and this year’s survey data is further proof. Forty-five percent of tech professionals said they planned on using all of their vacation days in 2022, up from 39% in 2021. And in addition to ranking remote work and flexible work schedule options as critically important non-traditional benefits, there was a significant increase in how respondents ranked the importance of wellness programs as a benefit: 49% in 2021 to 58% in 2022.
Data-related tech skills demand higher pay with growing salaries.
Earning some of the highest tech salaries this year were data-related tech skills such as Elasticsearch ($143,619), Apache Kafka ($142,764), Teradata ($141,515) and Redis ($140,290). For tech professionals everywhere, learning specialized, data-related skills can offer more opportunities to negotiate for raises, equity and other benefits.